Get Better Gear!

Premier Sponsors

Other World Computing

TechRestore

Top 5 Free Apps

Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

Top 5 Paid Apps

Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • Wolfmother

    • 8 out of 10
    • Wolfmother
    • Black Sabbath, The White Stripes, The Stooges. There aren't many bands worth their salt that want to be compared to other bands, but when I listen to Wolfmother's self-titled American debut, I can

  • Jagged Little Pill (Acoustic)

    • 6 out of 10
    • Alanis Morissette
    • Ten years after the original release, comes the traditional celebratory acoustic re-recording. The album has held up remarkably well. While it is not as meaningful to me as it was when I was sixteen,
  • King James Version

    • 4 out of 10
    • Harvey Danger
    • The sophomore effort from Harvey Danger, I was really looking forward to this followup to "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" Unfortunately, "King James Version" failed to deliver any of the bri

  • 2112

    • 10 out of 10
    • Rush
    • We all know it, right? Well, ya just gotta have it. 2112 finally showed Rush out on their own, doing their own thing, and doing it well, IMHO.
  • The Stooges

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Stooges
    • Another pillar of my musical foundations, The Stooges' first album is one those records whose influence far outweighed its popularity. Like The Velvet Underground & Nico, hordes of people wh

Reader Specials

Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!

News

Best Buy Will Give HD DVD Buyers $50 Gift Certificate plus Trade-in

Best Buy announced on Wednesday that they will give customers who bought an HD DVD player a US$50 gift certificate. The move is intended to mend relations with customers who may have felt they were led astray by the electronics giant. The move is similar to what Apple did when they first irritated early iPhone buyers by reducing the price drastically, but then later gave them a $100 store gift certificate.

"The DVD format war has divided our customers in a way we haven�t seen since Betamax took on VHS more than 20 years ago," said Brian J. Dunn, president and chief operating officer for Best Buy. "At Best Buy, we understood and shared our customers’ frustrations as they were being asked to choose one format or the other. Now that the format war is over, we hope these gift cards will reassure our customers that we will help them make a smooth transition into the right technology for their needs."

Best Buy said it will proactively mail the cards to customers and the card should be in the mail by May 1st. However, if customers think they’ve been overlooked, didn’t have a correct address on file, and so on, they can call 888-BEST-BUY if they have a credit card or Best Buy receipt for the HD DVD player.

While the HD DVD player, via upconverting, can make standard DVDs look even better than the older, standard DVD players, those customers who want to trade their HD DVD player in can also do so. "Beginning on March 21, customers who do want to get rid of their HD-DVD players can visit Best Buy�s Online Trade-In Center at www.bestbuytradein.com. Visitors to the site will receive instant estimates of the value of their HD-DVD players and movies. Those who agree with the estimates can then ship their goods to the Trade-In Center free of charge by downloading a prepaid shipping label and will receive an additional gift card as payment for their trade-in. This service is open to HD-DVD owners regardless of where they bought their player," Best Buy said.

In a comment cited at the New York Times, the question was raised as to whether Best Buy may have taken a page from Apple’s playbook when it sent a $100 gift certificate to early iPhone customers after a dramatic price decrease. "I would be disingenuous if I did not tell you we constantly survey what the industry is doing," Mr. Dunn said.

The move will cost Best Buy US$10M on the surface, but as with the Apple move, Best Buy customers will not only feel better about the company, but they’ll be back in the store spending those gift certificates.

Post Your Comments

  Remember Me  Forgot your password?

Not a member? Register now. You can post comments without logging in, but they'll show up as a "guest" post.

Commenting is not available in this section entry.